Most Stupidly Perfect Game Ever Played

[Machine Man 1992]

This thread is going to be a nice and light diversion away from all the heavy shit going down.

What is Stupidly Perfect? It's a concept that I just made up; it's a game that when you play it, completely floors you with how good it is. It has all the elements you look for and pulls them off perfectly. Hell, if there are flaws, they're either so minor as to be completely ignorable or serve to make the good parts look even better. This is the game that you play constantly, the go to example you cite for when people ask you "what's the greatest game ever made?" As for why Stupid in the title, it's because these are the games that make you feel kinda stupid for not finding them earlier and paying all of the monies they ask for.

Since I am the OP, I will go first:

My most Stupidly Perfect Game is EDF 2025. I mean Jesus, talk about volume of content. Eighty-five missions, literally hundreds of weapons, and enough variety in environment and enemy placement/type to keep it interesting and make each mission feel different. The sheer motherfucking scale is breathtaking, and the enemies range from "ant the size of a bus," to "Robot hippo the size of an aircraft carrier." Sure the game is pretty damn ugly by the super-shiny graphics of today, but it soon becomes apparent when you see hundreds of enemies of every size and shape swirling and bobbing around you that the developers spent all the processing power they saved on throwing bigger and badder shit at you. And the player classes, MY GOD, the player classes. My personal favorite is the Fencer heavy weapons guy, because he requires a great deal of skill and finesse to play effectively, but also because with the right equipment it turns into Armor Core by way of Monty Python. Better weapons are unlocked on higher difficulties, which incentivizes you to play levels on harder modes to get the best stuff, and you feel like a complete badass when you do.

Your turn, Escapists.

 

[Lilani]

Portal. Such a tight damn game. Great, concept, perfect execution. Portal 2 was great as well, and while I wouldn't say any aspect of it is markedly WORSE than the first one, to me the first one seems lightly more perfect simply because it's such a small, sleek package. I'm hesitant to call a game as large as Portal 2 perfect. Portal 1 in comparison just fits in the palm of your hand, and you can see it from all angles, which to me is just fascinating. Every angle is perfect, and because it's so small you can easily see and marvel every one of them.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

The original Company of Heroes.

Before it came along, no strategy game had really made me feel so absorbed in what felt like an authentic depiction of battlefield combat. Games like Starcraft, Red Alert etc all felt like there was too much of a focus on peon micro and teching order, with terrain playing very little role and battles largely coming down to one's production capability. Total Annihilation came close with an engaging model of combined arms, but even then things often boiled down to "select all units and a-move, win". Myth II deserves a mention for being all about terrain, army positioning etc but it wasn't a greatly dynamic game, multiplayer was usually over in seconds.

Company of Heroes changed all that. You had to largely forget about base building and resource management and just focus on getting control of the map. And you had to ditch everything you previously would resort to do doing. A-moving your infantry blob into a machine gun meant being pinned and having to retreat. Neglecting your infantry when tanks became available would hurt your map control. Flanking an enemy wasn't just done for kicks, it would catch weapons and turrets facing the wrong direction or expose the weaker armour of vehicles. And you were given the tools to be really creative, like being able to wire off approaches, put mines on roads, take down an enemy weapon crew and steal it for yourself. Flawed in a number of ways and often dreadfully balanced in multiplayer, but for me just perfect in how far it advanced things forward. The original Wehr vs USF matchup is one of the best ever.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Conkers Bad Fur Day. I love it with every bone in my body. Challenging, original, great music, funny, and lets not forget the most important, FUN! I mean he's such an amazing parody and the shit they got away with back on the 64! I didn't even know what fellatio was when I was that young, but there it was in a 'kids' game. Maybe it speaks to the immaturity in me(I mean I still laugh at the fart jokes in South Park: SoT) but I find the humor to just be spot on. And every level was so fun and creative! Any game that has a level made of poo, a full on haunted house Dracula zombie level, a saving private Ryan beach level and a god damn matrix level, followed by the greatest final boss fight ever HAS to be worth like...a bazillion...awards? Lets go with squirrel tails and anti-gravity chocolate.

 

[Tanis]

God Hand:
The first '3D Battle Toads/Double Dragon' game that WORKED for me.

Humor, combat, enemies, difficulty.
ALL worked out.

 

[jamail77]

I envy you all. I can't say I have ever played a stupidly perfect game. If I stopped nitpicking and stopped having standards too high for even the snobbiest of people, I might be able to answer this question. As of now, I can't though.

 

[Evonisia]

Chalk up another one for Portal. There are no major flaws with that game, and I've not been made aware of any flaws that aren't just a case of personal preference yet.

Rayman Origins could come close, seeing as the simple removal of the lives system removes the madness of being extra careful in a fully trial and error game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Resident Evil 4

The best third-person action game I've played to this date. The whole thing is just so deliciously jam-packed with content, and yet it never feels overbearing or like it's overcompensating with useless stuff (*cough* Ubisoft). The story and characters are the dumbest fun, and make for what is probably the best narrative experience in any Resi game. No big evil conglomerate that continues to be incompetent with their plans for world domination, but a backwater cult led by an egomaniacal dimwit where the incompetence actually makes sense.

The punchiest gunplay of any game to feature guns, and an inventory system that's a game onto itself. With an A.I. companion that is the most mechanically sound I've ever seen. Unique death animations for nearly every enemy type, which themselves are in great variety, and a terrific sound design.

And amidst all the idiocy of the hero and the villains trading schoolyard insults, suplexing monks into stairways, and dumb monkey-eared anime girls, it still manages to be genuinely creepy and horrifically atmospheric.

RE4, you are the king!

 

[Candidus]

Dragon's Crown.

Resurrects the classic side-scrolling beat-'em-up with the best title the genre has ever seen. For me personally, it's got all the right hooks:

1. A variety of play-styles that seriously change the game.
2. A neat way of recycling the maps while ramping up the difficulty.
3. Great artwork, although your opinion may vary.
4. A lot of sexualised content, which suits my tastes and of which I never tire.
5. Online co-op and a little competitive space as well!

I've fully completed it as an Amazon and an Elf. At some point I'll go back to jiggle and gyrate my way through as a Sorceress. Easily the best game on a console today and one of the best games ever made, period.

 

[Batou667]

The original Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Pure distilled gaming nirvana that's a perfect compromise between form and functionality, that manages to be a respectable length without ever really feeling flabby or drawn-out, and also consistent enough to not feel like a sequence of unrelated set-pieces. Very impressive design and a great story.

Also, Heroes of Might and Magic 2. The gaming equivalent of high-grade cocaine. I lost hours to "one more turn" back in the day.

 

[stroopwafel]

Resident Evil 4

snip

RE4, you are the king!

Well said. RE4 probably takes the cake for me as well. This game just hits all the right notes at all the right times. Whenever I play RE4 it still feels fresh despite it being 10 years later. Super satisfying gameplay that remains fun no matter how many times you revisit it, perfect pacing with lots of variety in locations dripping in atmosphere and an entire zoo of monsters to fight. The lasting appeal of RE4 is second to none.

 

[Varrdy]

I agree that Portal is a magnificent example of all that is good about gaming.

I'm also struggling to find any kind of fault with South Park: The Stick of Truth - as a game, it's engaging and refreshingly bug-free; there is tonnes of stuff to do, see and buy; the writing is top-notch and refreshingly sick and twisted for an industry under a lot of scrutiny.

 

[bliebblob]

Bastion, the XCOM reboot, devil may cry 3, and guild wars 2.

None of them are perfect games of course, there's no such thing. But what they all have in common is that they set out to give you a very particular experience, and succeed spectacularly. For each one of them, the experience is so satisfying and feels so complete, I don't even feel the need to play them multiple times or beg for a sequel. Because I already got exactly what I wanted.

 

[Urgh76]

Shovel Knight if I get the right idea from OP.

The main concept when you hear something like this existing, basically a knight using a shovel, is honestly ridiculous.

But goddamn if it doesn't work tremendously.

Tremendous gameplay mechanics, and there's just so dang much to do all throughout, almost every single relic (item) you find throughout the game gets used extremely often, not to mention loveable characters such as the Goatician. Shovel Knight really just blows you away in terms of what you definitely wouldn't expect for a game with this title.

 

[Random Gamer]

That's a tricky one, because some games were actually stupidly perfect when they were released. Yet years later, you can see the game can be improved or has actually been improved in remake/new version.
So, I'll just name a few that, at the time, where for me stupidly perfect.

Pirates! And I'd actually argue that even now it'd be close to stupidly perfect - except for graphics obviously.

Civilization. First one was a milestone - though it definitely is the kind of games who was perfect at release yet could be significantly improved later on.

Starcraft

Age of Empires II

Planescape Torment doesn't qualify, because some aspects of fighting and that bloody Modron cube were quite annoying at times - ironically, I'd still argue it might be the greatest RPG around if not best game overall.

Deus Ex - original one

Morrowind was awesome, but leveling system, early fighting and cliff racers were quite annoying, so I don't think it qualifies either - though it's one of the 4-5 games I've played the most.

Portal 1/2

Europa Universalis 3 I won't nominate either, because expansions and patches can have big impact and the game is obviously not perfect - ironically again considering it's also in the top 5 games I've most played.

 

[SweetShark]

Many games is so Stupidly fun, I can't ignore them:

- Metal Gear Rising and Shadow Warrior [2013]: Sword slash action BABY!!!! Oh, the pieces flying all over the place man!!!! Swing, Swoop,Ziing!!!! Legs,hands,heads,torsos all over the air!!!!! Oh yeah, Oh yeah!!!!

- Va-11 Hall-A: What drink do you need Deal? Do you want no alcoholic drink because you are driving a car full of talking Corgis? Well, sh******t!!!!!! Sorry, I put a little alchohol in the few drinks you order for me. OOps!!!! WHAT DO YOU WANT DOG TO SERVE YOU!!!!!!! A a GUT PUNCH? ROGHT AWAY GOOD DOG SIR! I will serve you your drink in less than 45 seconds because I want the perfect score!!!!!! HERE YOU ARE MS. SAKURA SAKURA!!!!!!

- Painkiler [the original]: Tra la, lalala,Tra lalala~~~~!!!!!! I jumping like a f*cking frog while I am shooting the undeads around me~~~ I am so happy~~~~~~ Frozen and then blasted with a shotgun~~~~~ Stick to a wall with a Wooden d*ck~~~~~

- Duke Nukem 3D: SHAKE IT BABY!!!!SHAKE IT!!!!! F*CK!!!! Stop bothering me ALIENS ASSH*LES!!!!!!

- Death Race [original]: Duke Nukem......I know you are the best thing you happened in my life.......BUT YOU ARE GOING DOWN!!!!!!! LTT'S ROCK WITH OUR F*CKING WHEELS!!!!!!

- One Finger Death Punch: Right, left, right, left, right, right, left, right, left, left, right, right, right, left, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, left, left, left, left, right, left, left, left, left, right, right, left, right, right, right, right, right, right, left, left, left, left, right...CLICK OF MOTHER F*CKING DEATH B*TCHES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Silvanus]

Arkham City may be the closest thing to a perfect game I've played. It's (almost) everything I could have wished for.

Portal 1 & 2 are also both very difficult to fault. Innovative, tight, brilliant experiences.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Persona 4 /thread gg wp ez game

But seriously, it's hard for me to describe why it's so perfect because it lies in every single little piece of the game. I can't just point to one mechanic and go "this is why it's good" like say, the Arkham series can point to its combat engine.

The Social Links serve as both character development and an anti-grind mechanic so you can advance a particular character's story instead of grinding for EXP and still end up on track in levels, the characters are great, for example, in what other game would I be able to say "Yosuke is a sexist, homophobic, judgmental bellend but he's still the best friend a guy could hope to have" and actually be accurate? (that camping trip yo') The Shadow theme is fucking brilliant and the murder mystery actively makes you solve it yourself instead of waiting for the characters to do it for you.

It outright gives you a list of every single character you have ever met and doesn't let you move on with the game until you've picked out the murderer and the True Ending even hinges on you noticing a small hanging plot thread being the only thing not tied up in the epilogue and knowing where to go to deal with it.

 

[babinro]

Nothing.

I find the more I love a game the easier it becomes to nitpick it's admittedly minor faults. Games that feel like near perfect experiences are Rock Band (expert drums with cymbals), WarCraft 3 and Resident Evil 4.

A game with near perfect control would be something like Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mario 3, Hearthstone and simple games such as Tetris. These games are great but don't offer that perfect experience all the way through either due to certain questionable levels, tedious segments or lack of features.

The closest experience would have to be Rock Band with the drums. Granted I'm restricting it to the one instrument only but for me that's as close as it gets.